Present of a Lifetime
by Glowing Insanity
Summary: Bridgette and Geoff go to do their Christmas shopping just a week before the big day - and of course, the shopping centre couldn't be any busier. But after going their separate ways to buy presents for each other, Geoff is left stumped until he gets a surprising phone call about the present of a lifetime... Secret Santa fic for Snakeshark196


**Hey guys!**

 **So, here's a fic I had to write for the Total Drama Writer's Forum Secret Santa fic exchange, for Snakeshark196. Happy SS, hope you enjoy it! And to everyone else reading, you enjoy this too :-)**

 **I don't own Total Drama. How awesome that would be though…**

Snow was falling lightly all around Toronto – it was all to be expected that day, despite the chilling temperature of thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. Normally, the streets would be quiet in such cold weather. But with Christmas merely a week away, they were completely packed.

Bridgette pushed her way through to a gap in the crowd, standing on tiptoe and looking ahead, gulping as she saw the never-ending lines of people.

"Geoff, can you see the entrance to the shopping centre?" She called, dropping back down.

"Nah, not yet!" Geoff called back in reply. "Man, I've never seen the streets so _loaded_! Halifax never gets this busy…"

Creasing her brow in worry, Bridgette glanced to her right, hoping to spot a breakthrough. A small alleyway caught her eye, and she whirled back around, having to move with the flow as she did.

"There's an alleyway over there!" She shouted, pointing in the general direction.

Further back, Geoff also noticed it, as well as a gap in the line, and made a break for it, dashing through the gap and skidding to a stop by the alleyway.

"Phew… finally." He breathed, sighing. "Bridge, you there?"

Bridgette eventually emerged from the crowd and stopped for a second to look around, then running over to join Geoff.

"Okay, so we go through there, and apparently… there's a side entrance a couple hundred metres away?" She said, peering down the alleyway.

"I guess so. That's what the other peeps who live in Toronto said." Geoff replied with a shrug. "Let's go!" He darted into the alleyway with Bridgette right behind him, eventually coming out at the other side. "Dude, this carpark's packed!"

A large carpark lay before them, and there were cars everywhere – all the parks seemed to be mostly taken up, and other cars waiting for a park were all queued up at various places around the area, some even going right out to the entrance.

Bridgette quickly scanned their surroundings before leading the way down a narrow section of pavement, which only had the odd few people walking along it. After winding around the edge of the carpark, they finally reached the side entrance to the shopping centre – it was merely a single automatic sliding door.

"Most people will be going round to the street and try get in from there, right?" Geoff asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"I'd think so. This entrance…apparently isn't used that much." Bridgette shrugged. "Although there might be some who do." She stepped forward, just as the door opened, revealing a long, yet well-lit hallway, a more open space waiting at the end. "Well it doesn't look that bad so far. But there's only one way to find out if it's actually worse."

"I got it." Geoff ran down the hallway, not stopping until his silhouette could be seen against the light at the end. "It's pretty full!" He called out.

Bridgette ran through just before the door shut, and eventually got to the end. She skidded to a stop as soon as she could see into the main area of the shopping centre.

"Oh no…" She choked out, looking around at the masses of people… basically everywhere. "We're gonna have to stick together if we want to get all this shopping done today." She grasped Geoff's hand tightly as they slowly walked into the shopping centre.

For the next few minutes, the pair just slowly milled around, trying to at least go with the flow of foot traffic. They only got into one department store, which was really to buy Secret Santa presents – Bridgette had Leshawna, while Geoff was buying for Katie.

To shed a little light on it… back at the start of December, Cody suddenly had the idea that everyone at the Playa should participate in a Secret Santa. The idea was quickly agreed upon, but done in two groups – the twenty-four original contestants were in one, and the combination of season four and season six contestants made up the second.

Whilst Geoff had a quick scan over video games on display outside an electronics store, Bridgette patiently waited off to the side, suddenly getting an idea.

"Geoff, do you mind if I go off and buy something for you?" She called.

"Sure thing babe!" Geoff replied, walking over. "Huh, I should do the same for you. So… meet you back here in about… twenty minutes?"

"Yeah, that sounds like enough." Bridgette turned around to walk off, but looked back over her shoulder. "And is there anything specific you want?"

"Uh… nah, not really. And I take it that you'll want me to… surprise you?"

"Oh, yeah, of course! I'm not in desperate need of anything right now."

"Sweet! Well I guess we better start to go places before this place gets worse than it already is. See ya back here in twenty!" Geoff spun around and ran off to the left, disappearing into the crowd in merely seconds.

Bridgette looked back at the electronics store, wondering if something from there would be useful.

"Geoff did always want a portable speaker…" She muttered. "He'd never get round to actually buying one though…" She smiled and walked into the store, knowing exactly what she was looking for.

Meanwhile, Geoff strolled along the side of the crowd, looking around at all of the nearby stores, thinking about what he could possibly buy for Bridgette.

"Aw man, this is hard!" He complained, stopping outside a jeweller's store and looking through the entrance. "I just wanna get her something different this time… but what?" He turned back around to face the crowd, trying to look over it to see what shops were on the other side. "I guess I could… maybe find a beach shop and get her something from there… nah, I gotta get something way better than that."

Right at that moment, Geoff's phone started ringing, and he pulled it out, catching a glimpse of the contact name.

"Huh, Courtney?" He muttered in surprise, walking inside the jeweller's store to block out the noise from the main area of the shopping centre as he answered the call. "Yello, this is Geoff."

" _Geoff, I just got a call from Bridgette's mom Diane a few minutes earlier, and she told me that there's a massive surprise present for Bridgette coming her way._ " Courtney said on the other end of the line.

"Whoa, massive surprise present?" Geoff repeated, casting a quick glance outside, just in case Bridgette was going past. "What's the deets?"

" _You know how people can choose to go to some of the poor countries in Africa and help out there for a while?_ "

"Yep, my cousin did that once. Just last year, actually."

" _Well Bridgette's always wanted to do it, so Diane's going to sign her up for it. There's a large cost involved with it, but that's it – we all chip in on it, and… basically give it to her next week._ "

"Dang, that sounds like the present of a lifetime! Oh man, I'll definitely put some money towards it! Is there a maximum amount?"

" _Um… not really, just depends on how much money you have, I guess. But it needs to be all done by tomorrow so the application can be sent in for March, which is when the first one of the year is._ "

"Sweet!" Geoff grinned, checking outside for Bridgette again. "I'll just have to double check with my parents first, though."

" _No need – apparently they already know about it, so you'll probably be fine. Oh, and buy something else to cover it up. You're at the shopping centre, right?_ "

"Ah, okay then! And yep, I'm just inside the jewellers, where it's a heck of a lot quieter…"

" _Bridgette has run out of the stuff she uses to clean her surfboard with, so maybe you could get her some of that? I know it's not… exactly a present type of thing, but I'm stuck for ideas._ "

"No worries, I can get that, or unless she's bought some already, I'll find something else, I guess."

" _Okay, good! I've got to go now and help out with decorating the tree – Izzy just ran off with a bunch of ornaments including the star, so… yeah, I have to go- WHOA! IZZY!_ "

The call then ended, and Geoff put his phone back in his pocket, feeling a lot better.

"Man, I wonder how much I should put towards this." He said quietly, walking out of the jewellers and joining with the flow of foot traffic again. "Better go find the beach store first. Only got ten minutes now!"

Meanwhile, Bridgette was wandering around a clothing store, having bought a portable speaker for Geoff earlier, with time to spare.

"Oh, there's no light blue…" She said flatly whilst rifling through a rack of plain singlets. "Or green in my size. Guess I'll have to look somewhere else to find one."

After looking in a few more stores, yet finding nothing, Bridgette went back to outside the electronics store to wait for Geoff. Exactly a minute later, he sauntered out from the crowd and stopped a few feet away. In his hand was a fairly large paper bag with handles, which contained cleaning materials for surfboards, along with a few other things.

"Alright, you all ready to do the rest?" Geoff asked, grinning.

"Yep!" Bridgette replied. "Come on, we only have forty-five minutes until the next boat to the Playa leaves!"

"Forty-five minutes? Dang, we better get moving!"

The rest of their shopping trip was fairly average, despite the large amounts of people milling around, as well as endless queues at many of the larger stores, one specific store being Target. But after what felt like forever, Bridgette and Geoff were both on the boat back to the Playa.

As soon as they arrived, yet not before putting all their shopping away in their rooms, Bridgette went to talk with Gwen and Leshawna, who were both relaxing in their shared bedroom. Geoff seized the opportunity and scoured the resort for Courtney, eventually finding her resting in an armchair in the main living room, looking fairly exasperated.

"Is Izzy still causing a bit of… well, trouble or something?" Geoff asked, walking over.

"Yeah, she still is." Courtney replied, sighing. "But right now not even Eva can catch her. She's just high up in one of the trees with the star."

"Dang. Anyway, I guess I came here to find out some more about this… Africa thing.

"Oh! Well, it's a three-week trip in either Uganda, Tanzania or Rwanda, and I think Diane is signing Bridgette up for Tanzania. The total cost is somewhere around two thousand Canadian dollars, and so far there's been about four hundred put towards it."

"Aw, sweet! Now that you say it, I think I'll be able to chip in about… a hundred bucks, max? Maybe more?"

"A hundred?" Courtney repeated, astonished. "Nobody's put in that much yet!"

"Hey, I've been saving up to go to Europe with my bros and little sister for a long time, and taking out a hundred ain't gonna hurt a fly. That bank account was opened on my twelfth birthday, if you wanna know."

"Oh… well that's good then! Anyway, I have to keep helping Katie, Sadie and Lindsay with the tree decorating, whether we have a star or not, so I… guess I'll have to go. Any more questions about this, just come find me in the lobby, otherwise I'll be upstairs."

"Awesome, thanks a bunch!" Geoff grinned, giving Courtney a thumbs up. "Oh yeah, and if you've forgotten to tell me something, I'll probably be chilling in here, the game room or in mine and DJ's room."

"Okay!" Courtney got up and ran out of the room.

For the next few days, the entire Playa was fairly busy, with everyone all getting prepped up for Christmas, including buying a few last minute presents, decking out the whole building with many lights (and at Izzy's insistence, all the trees had lights wrapped around their trunks), and since there was nobody there to prepare food, DJ was in the kitchen for hours on end making all the dishes for the day. Several others had offered to help out, which he gladly accepted, and even got a delicious-sounding tiramisu recipe from Anne Maria.

A few electricians showed up at the resort over the weekend, and installed some new solar-powered lights which could change colour – at that time, they were set to red, green and gold. The contestants, although not expecting it, more or less enjoyed the lighting.

Finally, after a long time of preparation, it was Christmas Eve. Snow was forecast for the evening, and just about everyone was getting hyped up for the following morning.

Geoff sat in the TV room with various others, all watching a movie called "12 Dates of Christmas".

"Damn, back she goes again!" Leshawna remarked, laughing. "What a groundhog day that'd be."

"I know, it's crazy!" Bridgette added with a giggle. "All in all, it's still one of the best movies I've seen."

"She gets sent back like, twelve times, right?" Katie asked, sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

"Yeah, twelve times. So there's eight more yet to come."

A thought suddenly struck Geoff, and he looked around the room before standing up and slowly walking over to the open door.

"I'll be back peeps!" He called as he got outside, shutting the door. Looking around again, he ran down the left of the dimly lit hallway, taking a sharp corner before stopping at a closed door. "Okay..." He knocked on the door four times, which was then opened a few seconds later.

"Oh, Geoff!" Courtney exclaimed, sounding surprised. "Is... there something you need to know?"

"Yeah, I guess." Geoff replied, shrugging. "Did you... end up reaching two grand for Bridgette's Africa thing? Sorry, didn't think about asking you that the day after you started it."

"Actually, we went two hundred and fifteen dollars past two thousand, so you could say that we did. So many people had chipped in for it – even about twenty or so fans!"

"Whoa, that's wicked! So the money's all been sent back to Moncton?"

"Yeah, and Diane's still waiting for an acceptance letter, which is supposed to arrive... tonight, if Bridgette gets in, and then get posted over to here for tomorrow."

"Sweet! Oh man, I can just about imagine her opening that letter with the biggest smile! Well, if she's accepted, of course. But what do we do if she doesn't?"

"I haven't exactly thought over that, but the stuff you bought her earlier should probably be fine."

"Okay, cool! Now that I know what's going on, I guess I better get back to the movie in the TV room."

"There's a movie on?"

"Yep! Bunch of other peeps in there too! Oh, and the movie is 12 Dates of Christmas,"

"12 Dates of Christmas?" Courtney repeated. "I love that movie!"

"Awesome! Well, feel free to join us, we're not far away from halfway into the movie or thereabouts."

"I will join in! It's been quite a while since I last saw it."

"Alright, let's go then!"

The two walked back round to the TV room, with Geoff taking one half the two seater sofa he had earlier, and Courtney lying stomach down on the floor just a few feet away from the door.

All too soon, everyone was bedding down for the night, and lights all through the building were slowly being turned off, save the bathroom lights. Outside, the Christmas lights still shone brightly, as the first few snowflakes started to fall…

The next morning, snow had blanketed the Playa grounds, a fairly decent amount on all the pool covers. Behind the building, where a fairly forested area was, it looked like a true winter wonderland – snow piled onto tree branches and icicles hanging off them, no wind at all, and there was still a light yet steady snowfall. An ideal romantic setting, one would say.

Right now, however, it was a warzone. A fun one, at that.

Almost half of the contestants were in the middle of a massive snowball fight – guys against girls, with elements of dodgeball and hide and seek included. So far, it was fairly even, with both sides having around about five people out.

Bridgette peeked out from behind a large tree, spotting Alejandro standing merely a few feet away with his back turned. Smiling slyly, she packed the snowball in her hand tighter and aimed for a shot right at his exposed neck. She released her ammo, and her target got a perfect hit.

" _Ay caramba_ , that is cold!" Alejandro exclaimed, falling to his knees.

Bridgette couldn't help but laugh as she ran out into the open air, going over to join several other girls.

Meanwhile, Geoff, who would have been outside joining in on the fun, was in fact inside, waiting in the Playa's dining room, which was all set up for a Christmas dinner.

Just previously, Courtney had gone down to the docks to check if there was a delivery boat coming. She had done twice before, but there was nothing.

"Oh man, I hope it _does_ get here soon." Geoff muttered, looking at his watch. "I wanna go out and join all the peeps in the snowball fight!"

Right after he said that, he heard the lobby door opening and shutting, then a pair of footsteps slowly coming closer to the dining room. Eventually, Courtney emerged from the hallway, an envelope clutched in her hand.

"Got it!" She said triumphantly, raising it in the air.

"Sweet!" Geoff grinned, jogging over. "Alright, should we give it to her now or…?"

"No, not now. There's still other presents to be opened, so we'll do it then."

It wasn't that long at all before everyone was gathered in the hotel lobby, a mass of presents spread out underneath the massive Christmas tree. Most of them were in brightly coloured wrapping, apart from some, which were wrapped with newspaper, and each of them had a contestant's name on it – the Secret Santa presents.

"So are we starting off with the Secret Santa or should we leave that until last?" Cody asked.

"Leave it until last." Tyler replied, shrugging.

Soon, many of the contestants were walking, shuffling or crawling over to the pile of presents and picking out any for other people.

Bridgette put a misshapen piece of wrapping paper to the side, having just opened a present from Courtney – a natural strawberry-scented bath bomb and a selection of soaps, also all natural.

"Okay, what next…" She muttered, looking up and spotting Geoff walking over with a reasonably-sized present. "Oh, wow!" She exclaimed with a laugh.

"Merry Christmas, babe!" Geoff said, grinning as he sat down next to her. "Man, today's going great already!" He looked around, then seeming to be noticing something. "Whoa, actually… I'll be right back." He gave the present to Bridgette before leaping up again and running off.

Confused, Bridgette put the present on her lap and started ripping the blue and white snowflake-patterned paper off. The first thing she saw was a small, white bottle that was lying next to a silver chain with a dolphin on it.

"Oh… Geoff!" She laughed, shaking her head. "Well I guess I did run out of cleaning stuff… and the silver chain is sweet. What else is in there?" Pulling another piece of the paper off, she uncovered a surfboard keyring, a brightly coloured bumper sticker reading 'surfer chick' and part of a large, blue and pink striped beach bag. "Wow, that's so cool! I always did need another beach bag!"

"Oh em gee, that's amazing!" Sierra exclaimed, running over and dropping down onto her knees with a camera in hand.

"I know! Oh, feel free to take a picture!" Bridgette said, carefully pulling the wrapping paper out from underneath.

"I will, but I'm not here for that! Hehe…"

"Huh?"

"Sierra, start the video!" Courtney called from some distance away.

"What…" Bridgette furrowed her brow in confusion before an envelope suddenly dropped into her lap as several people turned round to watch.

"Open it up and see what's in there!" She heard her friend instruct from behind her.

"Uh… okay…" Feeling a bit unsure, Bridgette picked the envelope up and tugged at the flap, slowly pulling it open. "I don't know whether to feel good about this or not!" She laughed, slumping over in slight embarrassment.

"Feel good about it, babe! Feel good about it!" Geoff said, also laughing.

"Okay, okay!" Bridgette straightened up and tore open the rest of the envelope and pulled out the folded up piece of paper inside. She turned it over and saw the front of it, and froze. "Oh my god… is this what I think it is…?" She muttered, unfolding the paper and reading out the first few words. "Congratulations, you have been accepted into… ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" She yelled, leaping up.

"No, we are not kidding you!" Courtney said, laughing.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Bridgette pulled her friend into a hug. "H-How did you know I wanted to do that?"

"Oh, it wasn't just me. Your mom's the brains behind it."

"My… mom?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh… wow! Wow!" Bridgette turned around to Sierra, who was still holding the camera. "Thank you mom! If you're watching this… thank you so much! And… they're two thousand dollars… how did you manage that?"

"We all chipped in!" Geoff replied. "Lots of fans did too!"

"And you'll never guess who put in the most money!" Courtney put in. "A hundred dollars, it was."

"A hundred dollars? Um…" Bridgette turned back round, immediately spotting Geoff's somewhat smug expression. "It was you!" She exclaimed, running over to him.

"Once again, merry Christmas!" Geoff laughed, swinging her round. "So how's that for a present of a lifetime?"

"It's… almost unreal! I think it'll take a long time for it to sink in. A very long time. Oh, I should go find your present!"

The rest of the day was regarded as one of the best Christmases ever by Geoff and Bridgette. With snow still falling outside and everything going smoothly, it was enjoyable for mostly everyone, really.

And the weeks to come… let's just say that it still hasn't sunk in for Bridgette.

 **There we go, all finished. :)**

 **I will admit that I had another completely different idea for this. But the problem was, I just wasn't getting anywhere with it. So I just had to change the plot and I was good to go.**

 **Anyway… Merry Christmas to you all, and happy New Year too. :D**

 **Until next time!**


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